Casino cash for Norco towns to be banked

County Council still hasn't decided who will be on the panel that will determine allocation for communities around Sands.

June 18, 2009|By Michael Duck OF THE MORNING CALL

Millions of dollars in impact fees from Bethlehem's new slots casino are to start rolling into Northampton County coffers next month -- but instead of going right away to road projects in Hellertown or the police force in Freemansburg, the money is first headed to a county bank account.

That's because County Council still won't have decided who will get to dole out that money to the municipalities.

After voting in March to create the Northampton County Gaming Revenue and Economic Redevelopment Authority, the council has spent months debating which municipalities and which parts of the county should be represented on the panel.

A compromise bill won approval June 4, and Councilman John Cusick had said he hoped to start picking the authority's members at Wednesday's meeting of the personnel committee, which he heads.

That timetable turned out to be unrealistic, Cusick said Wednesday. "We simply didn't have enough time to allow the ordinance to become law, advertise and evaluate members. ... The goal now is to look at it next month." The next personnel committee meeting is scheduled for July 22.

In the meantime, impact fees from the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem are expected to start arriving in early July, said Vic Mazziotti, county director of fiscal affairs. The percentages of the fees that are dedicated to Northampton County, Lehigh County and Bethlehem are to go out right away.

That leaves the portion for the other municipalities impacted by the casino, particularly those closest to Bethlehem. That sum has been estimated at $2.8 million per year.

"It'll sit here, until the committee is constituted," Mazziotti said.

Cusick, who drafted the June 4 compromise, insists the municipalities won't have to wait too long. "I don't think the delay will be significant. The money will be there," he said, noting the municipalities still have to write grant applications to show how they're impacted by the casino.

In the meantime, it's still not clear if the debate over the authority's makeup is quite finished. Councilman Ron Angle has charged for months that the authority's makeup excludes the farther-flung parts of the county, and he said Wednesday he still hasn't ruled out a lawsuit.

However, he suggested he might be satisfied with a further compromise. "I want the two presidents of the [Slate Belt and Nazareth Area councils of government] to put their names in," Angle said. If those regions are represented adequately on the authority, he hinted, he might soften his opposition.